A Fox in Human Clothing
by fuckret
Summary: People change over time, sometimes even when they don't want it. Natsume goes through these changes and adjust her already complicated emotions, life and relationships. Cover done by someonerandom03
1. The Big Bad part one

_"Was it good for you too?"_

 _"...yeah."_

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That was all that was on her mind at the time. Hunger, gnawing at her like an animal trapped in her stomach, didn't care on anything but satisfying itself. It didn't care for the biting cold of that January night. It didn't care that this deer was crying in anguish and pain as it tried to limp away from it's attacker. Once she ripped it's torso open and feasted on it's variety of organs and muscles, the hunger began to dissipate. Her mind began to slowly regain it's senses once she licked any stray brain matter off the cap of the skull. When she saw what she had done. She looked at the carnage she had committed and ran, with her tail between her legs.

Natsume woke up that morning is a strange position. Not only was her elevation lower and not on her comfy mattress, and her back sore from laying in a fetal position upon the floor, but her eye and lips were injured and hurt. She didn't even have to touch them to feel the sting. A small trickle of blood ran down her lips and onto her chin, giving her the look of wearing lipstick. Natsume winced when she sat up, sucking in air to not yelp. She quickly pulled herself up from the plywood ground only to have her back dully send out a shock of widespread each. She rubbed the affected area before thinking of why she was in this position.

Did she fall off the bed? It made some sense; it would explain her beatup face and sleep on the floor. But it didn't make a lot of sense, though. If she fell hard enough onto the ground to leave a black eye and busted lip, she surely would have woken up. It would be like snuggling up while your hand was on fire. Plus, she was a very light sleeper. Even dropping a pencil on the floor could wake her up quickly.

She groggily stumbled to her bureau, examining her wreckage in the mirror. Thankfully, weren't too huge, but still noticeable. Her right eye was swollen and the skin around colored black and blue. She could barely see out of it as it was almost completely shut. Her lips seemed to have suffered the brunt of the damage as they were swollen and had a ugly red cut along the latitude of her lower lip.

She thought of more ways this would have happened. Her parents would be asking questions.

"What a what to start off my day." She mumbled to herself.

She peeked out her bedroom door for any signs of life. So far, there was none. It made sense; it was 6:07 on a Sunday. The mostly dark hallway had the staircase to the right and her parents and brother's room to her left. At the end was the bathroom door, half ajar. A black void peeked out of this crack, darker than the rest of the house. Natsume creaked her door open, careful to keep it's hinges from squeaking.

In a tip toe manner, she padded her way to the bathroom, all while thinking of explanations.

Yokai. It had to be yokai. It was cliche thing to do, but it was much more rational than her other ideas, one of which was a mysterious stranger coming into her room, punching her face and throwing her floor before leaving.

Then again, who would want to do this to her? Word had gotten out into various yokai communities of her, Touma and Akinori and what they had done. If they, with all their variety of power and curses, wanted to hurt her, they would've have done something much more long lasting and impactful.

She cringed and momentarily recoiled as a floorboard creaked under her foot.

"Shit." She breathed. Her eyes scanned the doors in the hallway. No sounds came from the rooms. Good.

Tightening her hands into sweaty fists, she soldiered on.

More thoughts arose as she stepped on cracks, ignoring the proverbs of childhood.

Maybe this was a hallucination. Maybe once she splashed some water on her face, the sleepiness would wash off and bring out her real face and everything would be splendid and normal.

Normal to her.

Maybe.

With her hand reaching out for the door knob, she looked behind her to make sure no disturbance had woken anyone. The hallway still was a black void, her bedroom door still open like a gaping maw.

Slowly she pushed the white door open and flipped the light switch on, adjusting her eyes to the sudden brightness reflecting off the porcelain and ceramic. She slipped in soundlessly and closed the door behind her in the same manner. Natsume looked at her condition in the mirror for a second before opening the cabinet up. Taking out some cotton balls and hydroxide, she began the disinfecting. She resisted the urge to hiss and she rubbed the tender lip with a hydrogen peroxide soaked balls. Spitting out any loose drops of the solution that fell on her tongue, Natsume looked up and nearly fell over in shock.

The bottle fell over and began pouring out it's disinfectant insides as the young teen looked up at the mirror from the floor, scared by what she had saw. Her breath was shaky from what she saw in that mirror.

This HAS to be a dream, she thought. How else could she have seen that?

Sucking in some air, Natsume pushed herself off the ground, crouching, but on her feet now. Her hands grasped for the edge of the sink, gripping it for dear life.

Pulling her body up slowly, she held her head down so she wouldn't be surprised again by that... thing. Her legs felt heavy and shaky and barely straightened out for her to stand up tall. Natsume squeezed her other onto the porcelain sink. She stared at it, looking into the drain and it's empty pit.

Gulping, she slowly craned her neck up, preparing herself for the sight.

Making eye contact with herself was hard when she got a good look at it.

The thing had the same hair color and that was it. It's body barely fit in the mirror and it had to crouch to look at Natsume. It almost looked like a giant wolf but with less bulk. Actually, it didn't have a wolf look at all, but Natsume couldn't put her finger on what it was.

It was skinny, too. She could see some ribs poking out of it's chest and the curve in it's hollowed cheeks. It's maw was half open, matching her own confused and frightened expression, exposing a lines of white teeth, sharp enough to tear through any carcass.

What scared her the most, though, was it's eyes. They weren't anything like an animals. Not the pools of brown and black as one would see on a dog or yellow like a wolf's. Instead, they were white, the pupils being black and the iris being a light brown.

They were human. They were sentient. They were her eyes.


	2. The Big Bad part 2

Akinori quickly wiped cold sweat off his forehead and flicked it to the side. He clamped his hand back on his bike handle. His legs felt like they were being stretched out, aching from the speed he flew at down the sharp corners. He mentally was his own GPS, remembering the directions to Natsume's house. Down this street, sharp right, go down here and take the second left. The only thing keeping his half dressed body awake was the panic he heard in Natsume's voice when she frantically called him five minutes ago. He could still remember how her voice quivered like a shaking leaf. He could barely make out what she said through her nervous stuttering but he could still make out the intense disturbed tone in her voice and her sporadic breathing.

He snapped his body upright after turning the corner for Natsume's street. Akinori, through labored breaths, gleaned the houses he passed, observing for any sign of this danger that could have made Natsume call him. The portly teen clamped down on his brakes, almost leaping off his bike before it fully stopped. Though, once he got off, adrenaline from the ride began to leak out and the pain his thighs and calves were in kicked into action. Akinori hunched over, hands on his knees, as he steadied his breathing. Blearily looking up at the house, covered in shades of pink by the peeking sun, nothing looked out of the ordinary.

Of course it would look ordinary, he thought to himself, if something truly awful was happening here, the perpetrator wouldn't want the world to know about it. He took his cellphone out of his pocket and immediately dialed Natsume to get her location. One ring. Two ri-she picked up before it could finish.

"Holy fuck, where are you?" she whispered harshly into the phone. Akinori was taken aback a bit. Natsume never swore, especially with words that harsh.

"I'm ou-outside your house. Where are you?"

"Living room, I'll let you in," she hung up the phone quick. With two clicks, Akinori heard the door unlock and creak open. Though only a small sliver of the door was open, he could clearly see her brown eyes filled with anxiety and tumultuous confusion. Natsume tipped her head to the side, signaling for Akinori to come in. The portly boy kicked his bike stand to the ground, pushing it out of the way of the road before rushing up to his friend's door. Natsume opened the door just enough for Akinori before quickly shut and locked it with unseen speed.

"Phew, what a ride...anyways, what-" Akinori's eyes locked onto the watch holder pressing an ice pack against her right eye.

"What happened?" Akinori pointed a finger at the affected area. Natsume shrugged.

"It's one of the reasons I called you over." She sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out. She mentally prepared herself before pulling out her phone and motioning for her shaman friend to come over. She opened the camera app and switch to the in facing camera.

What popped up on the screen was something far from the brown haired girl next to Akinori. In her spot was an incredibly tall, furry, dog-like creature. It stood on its hind legs and stared at the camera in shock, their eyes looking exactly like Natsume's. Akinori gasped in shock.

"Holy…." he quietly exclaimed. Natsume shivered at the beast and quickly shoved her phone back into her pocket.

"You see what I mean?" she sighed "Please tell don't tell me something is possessing me." She rubbed her eyes in annoyance.

"I...really don't know. Did they just appear this morning?"

"Yeah! The weird thing is, though, I had a weird ass dream last night that I think relates with this."

Akinori raised a brow. "Really?"

"Yeah...I...was in a forest. And...there was deer. And I was chasing the deer and, ya know….ate it."

"How does that explain your shiner?"

"I felt the deer kick me in the face. Hard."

"Yeouch."

"Yeeeeaaaahhh…"

There was a moment of silence between the two as Akinori processed a plan on what to do. Mirrors were often used by spirits to cross the yokai and human world, but he had never seen that yokai before. He thought about it's appearance. Brown fur, triangular muzzle, slim body. He guessed it was most likely a kitsune, but a brown furred one? Kitsune came in many pelt colors, but brown was almost non existent. And their eyes never looked so...human. He rubbed his chin in thought.

"Hey, Natsume."

"Hmm?"

"When you've got the time, come over to the my office. I've got more information there on this stuff."

"Oh, you mean your shed."

Akinori flinched in anger.

"It-you-ugh, just...come over when you can, OK? I'd say bring Touma, too. But definitely not Keisuke."

"Oh, I'd never. The guy would go into a self induced coma if I told him."

Akinori chuckled at Natsume's statement. He swiftly left his friend's house and hopped on his bike, waving a goodbye to a slightly less tense Natsume. Peddling slower now, the chubby boy pondered about what he just saw. A creature in the mirror, dreams of hunting….this would surely be an interesting case.

But while the boy puttered and pondered his way home, a large and bulky figure on top of the house opposite the Natsume's watched Akinori. He stared intently through his periscope until the teen disappeared into the distance. The muscular person snapped their head back to the girl's house, checking for anything else out of the ordinary. Once everything was scoped out, they sighed and took off their headphones. Well, now the moment their boss has been waiting for. She was turning. Pulling out a phone from their duffle bag, they phoned in their boss' number and held it to their ear.

"Hello, it's Ichi. Please give me to Mr.Tsukuda. It's happening.

 **A/N: After ten thousand years, I HAVE RETURNED.** **But seriously, it's been a long time. I'm sorry for the wait guys, life decided to throw me some curveballs and it's been delaying this chapter. But now, I've got everything straightend out and I hope to give you guys a chapter at least once a week. Please review this story and follow it and have a good day.**


	3. The Big Bad part 3

Though the blinds were drawn on the windows, the shining sun's rays peek through the slits, paper thin light hitting the room like a stairway to heaven. The light partially lit the room, much to the displeasure of the hungover cat laying in the bed. He rolled over, away from the annoying rays, pulling a pillow to lie on top of his head. His rest was interrupted a moment later by the door to the little shed slamming open, a large and muscular person turning the lights on as soon as they stepped in.

"Goooooooood Mooooooorrrrrnnniiinngg!" they yelled in a deep and cheerful voice. The ghost cat literally jumped into the air, yowling. They turned, while falling to the floor, into a much larger and lanky red cat before flopping face first onto the carpet.

"You stupid mother-what the hell!?" the red cat fumed at the muscular cyclops. The purple cyclops kept up his wide smile.

"C'mon, Jibanyan," he bellowed out, "you should wake up early in the morning! You get so much more done AND get to see the sun rising!". His glowing smile couldn't soften Jibanyan's glowering frown.

"Yeah, nice sun rays that pound on your hangover," he mumbled.

The cyclops, Micchy, despite his smile and positive attitude, enjoyed seeing the annoying alcoholic cat get his fair due. This guy has been, despite how the other watch bearers thought of of him, was quite the lazy amateur. He never understood why everyone called him out first for battle. True, Micchy was more mastered in the art of spying and tech, but he still had the muscles…

"Ok, lazy bones, just lay around at waste your day. But, before I leave you to sleep in your filth, do you know where the humans went?"

Jibanyan rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Ugh, I heard fatso come in a few minutes ago. Of course, I didn't bother him because he tries to be quiet, unlike you," he hissed at Micchy, "anyways, he was lookin' around pretty frantically, pulling out books, typing away on his computer, clickity clack," he mimicked typing with an outstretched hand. "So yeah, he gathered some stuff and ran out like someone lit a fire under his ass. I last heard his footsteps in the direction of his house, so I'd say look there."

Micchy nodded and gave the cat a curt "Thank you" before swiftly leaving, closing the door behind him.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Donning dark Raybans, Natsume in front of the entrance of the shrine. Welp. Here she was. She sucked in a breath and slowly let it out. The hard part wasn't convincing her parents that she wore these glasses all of a sudden because they "looked cool" (it was quite easy, in fact). No, the hardest part was convincing her feet and legs to cooperate with her body and bring her out the door. She was just...uncertain. It was weird to say, but a gut feeling told her that whatever this thing was, it wasn't going to have the happy ending of defeat the yokai, hear their life story, make them happy and then they join her team.

It wasn't too late now. She could turn back, go home, play on her 3ds and pretend this wasn't happening.

I can't do that, Natsume thought to herself, I can't just go la di da, everything's fine. Despite her legs attempt to wobble in revolt, the teen steeled herself and marched into the area.

Opening the door, she saw how lonely Akinori's house was. While not the largest, their was just an emptiness to it. Maybe it was the lack of a lot photos on the walls or the quietness resonating across the halls. Speaking of the halls, she could see her black haired friend Touma leaning against the door she assumed was to Akinori's room looking at his phone. Once hearing the door open, his attention was diverted to Natsume and he quickly out his phone back into his pocket. She gave him a small smile.

"Good Morning, Natsume." he simply greeted.

"Mornin' Touma."

"Akinori's in his room waiting for you. He must be really interested in what's going on with you because he hasn't talked to me once the whole time I've been here. The guy's been sifting and studying paper after paper, forum after forum. I decided to wait out here so he could do his investigation in peace."

"You didn't try to help?"

"I did, but whenever I tried to get one of his papers or books, he would always snatch it away before I could get it." The black hair boy shrugged. Natsume was a bit concerned for Akinori and his intense absorption and immediately opened the door to his room. She was greeted by stacks of books as high as her hips and Akinori's back as he typed away diligently on his laptop. Natsume lightly knocked on his doorframe.

"Uhhh, hey."

Akinori whipped his body around from her awkward greeting.

"Ahh, Natsume, you're finally here!"

He hopped out of his bed, laptop in hand.

"I've been studying and investigating on what's been going on with you," he exasperatedly started, "and I've ruled out possession and…" he wiped hia sweaty forehead.

"You might wanna sit down for this one."

Natsume fidgeted in her own skin from Akinori's words. What...could he possibly mean?

The chubby boy motioned for Natsume to sit a plain wooden chair. She nodded and tried to keep her body from quivering as she softly perched her bottom on the seat. Touma inched his way into the room, softly closing the door behind him. Despite his cool attitude, Natsume could feel that under his collected exterior, he also felt nervous. The dark haired boy caught her seeing through his facade and tried to give her a small reassuring smile, telling her that everything was alright.

Akinori began quite quickly as he pulled up the web pages.

"Considering you saw that dog-fox thing in the mirror, I at first thought it was possession. Mirrors often give away the presence of yokai, no matter how well they can transform.

"But," he pointed his index finger in the air to emphasize the word, "when I realized it EXACTLY mirrored YOUR actions, down to the facial expressions, I quickly threw that theory out the window."

Natsume was much more anxious for the answer now. She crossed her arms and pulled her limbs closer to her body. She was afraid of finding out what this truly was. She wanted to know, at the same time, but her gut was simply screaming at her, telling her trouble would soon climb over the horizon.

Akinori brought up a web page on his laptop and showed it to Natsume. It was a very basic looking page, a black background with white text.

"And then, I saw this website-"

"Wait," Natsume quickly interrupted him, her brows furrowed. "how do you know this is credible? This is the internet, a-anyone can say anything, true or not."

Akinori nodded.

"I know, but I have met some of the users a few times, and they are knowledgeable of the supernatural world and yokai. Trust me, Natsume, I wouldn't have used this at all if this was by some rando off the internet. But this guy," he pointed to the username "kindakool", "is a real yokai historian. I've seen the volumes and volumes of books he's got. Heh, you could hurt someone with just half of the first book."

Natsume gulped and nodded. Her gut thrashed and panicked, knowing it could not deny any of the upcoming info now. Natsume was glad she wore her shades, or else Akinori would have seen her widened and anxious eyes. Not seeing her fear, the boy pressed on.

"Anyways, the article. This article was about human and yokai children. I found it when I searched for your mirror thing. I didn't understand why at first, but as I read on, it quickly hit me."

He scrolled down the page, stopping at the list.

"Human and yokai children often don't show their spirit side immediately. It may be a few minutes after birth, it could be years into the future. But, they do show the signs in a common way.

"One, they feel aches in pains in their bodies, like they're being stretched and squashed like taffy. Two, their powers start to act up without control. And third...any reflective object...shows their soon to be form."

 **A/N: I should never make promises...** **anyways, sorry for the long wait! Life and laziness got in the way. I'll TRY to be more frequent with chapters, but no promises. Please comment your thoughts and any improvements you think can be made.**


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